Banana Face Mask for Oily Skin
Both of these recipes for face masks use easy-to-find ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen.

1 overly-ripe banana

1 Tbsp honey

A squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Whip all ingredients until smooth, and apply. (For best results, cleanse and steam your face before applying.) Leave on for 15 minutes, and then wipe clean with a warm washcloth.

Yogurt and Honey Face Mask for Dry Skin

1 Tbsp full-fat, plain yogurt

1 Tbsp honey

Combine ingredients until smooth, and apply. (For best results, cleanse and steam your face before applying.) Leave on for 15 minutes, and then wipe clean with a warm washcloth.

*Informationabout Uncommon Ingredients

Beeswax, a natural wax made by bees in honeycombs, is commonly used in cosmetics. It helps to seal, moisturize and protect the skin. You can buy beeswax in chunks or "pearls." Beeswax chunks are more economical, and slightly less processed than pearls, which are more heavily filtered to achieve cosmetic grade. Many natural foods stores sell beeswax in bulk form (buy only as much as you want), and you can also find it in craft stores.

Castile soap refers to liquid or bar soap that is made exclusively from vegetable oils (as opposed to animal fat) and comes in a variety of scents (or unscented). You'll find it in natural foods stores. Dr. Bronner's is a commonly used brand.

Cocoa butter, natural fat in cacao beans, is extracted during the process of making chocolate. Commonly used in cosmetics, thanks to its smooth texture and sweet fragrance, this stable fat has a shelf life of two to five years. Look for 100% cocoa butter in natural foods stores, craft stores, or online sources that sell soap-making supplies.

Coconut oil (or coconut butter), which comes from coconuts, is an excellent moisturizer. You'll find it in most natural and conventional food stores, next to other cooking oils.

Grapeseed oil (also called grape seed oil or grape oil) is pressed from the seeds of various grapes. It possesses regenerative and restructuring qualities, and is often used in commercial eye creams. You'll find it in most natural or gourmet food stores, next to other cooking oils.

Lavender essential oil (or "oil of lavender") is derived from lavender plants via steam distillation. Simply put, an essential oil carries a plant's distinctive scent (or "essence"), but no other fundamental properties of that plant. Lavender has been used in aromatherapy for years to ease anxiety, stress, and depression. You'll find essential oils in small, tinted glass bottles in your natural foods store (in the bulk, beauty or aromatherapy section).

Wheat germ oil is extracted from the germ of a wheat kernel. This highly perishable oil contains more vitamin E (a powerful antioxidant) than any other natural (non-fortified) food source, along with minerals and B-complex vitamins. You'll find it in the supplement section of your natural foods store.

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About The Author

Liza Barnes
Liza has two bachelor's degrees: one in health promotion and education and a second in nursing. A registered nurse and mother, regular exercise and cooking are top priorities for her. See all of Liza's articles.

I recently began buying Dr. Bonner's soaps again after a lapse of many years and love it. It looks expensive when you see it on the shelf but I find it's extremely concentrated. I use it as an everyday body wash diluted two parts soap to one part water; one little squeeze on a bath poof provides lots of luxurious suds.

If you go online, you'll find a hundred different ways people use Dr. Bonner's. I personally have found that, full strength, it's the ONLY thing that gets my pesky smooth cooktop clean. Go figure: gentle enough to wash dry skin but somehow strong enough to get off cooked-on gunk.
- 12/17/2013 4:48:49 AM

I love seeing all these homemade facial treatments made with natural products. About 12 years ago i got really into making all my own hair,skin,body products using all natual unscented base products and adding my own selection of essental ouls and other stuff to them. I created so many I wrote the best ones down into a small notebook. A few years ago I came across the notebook which I had forgotten all about. I see some of the combinations of ingerdients I used then now being touted by celebrities/televsion as the "newest skin treatment" fad and it makes me laugh...Many of us have been using a lot of those products for numerous years, and our mothers, and grandmothers before us. I guess all that fame & money makes some peoples brains stop working!!!!
- 8/20/2013 11:33:02 PM

My college A&P Professor when I was in nursing school told us that our skin cells are dead on the outside and putting expensive creams and lotions on them wouldn't do anything but waste our money. I've never forgotten that. LOL
- 5/23/2013 10:03:19 AM

I love these natural ideas... I'm on SSA, so my budget doesn't include a lot of expensive skin care products, but I do get a food allowance, and feeding my skin from the outside as well as the inside does help! LOL Great ideas!

Another really great moisturizing mask idea is avocado... it can be used by itself, mashed and applied to clean skin, or you can add yogurt, and/or a tsp of lemon, and if you need an exfoliating agent, add a tablespoon of ground oatmeal... gently massage it over your face, let it set for five minutes and then wipe it off and rinse... don't worry if plain avocado turns brown, that's what it does when it combines with oxygen. It's not a bad thing...besides, any way you do it, it feels wonderful!
- 10/22/2012 3:43:22 PM

For a substitute for chammomile you could try green tea. as for cinnamon, I had never heard of that, i have a terrible time with black heads especially on my nose, cheeks and chin. Though I also heard that cinnamon can irritate and even burn the skin if in it's oil form.
- 6/22/2012 1:33:07 AM

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